I found Seattle in Progress (a web app by Ethan Phelps-Goodman) this morning in the Evergrey newsletter…it helps you figure out what’s being built in the city of Seattle.

Guess what I did when I found it? I immediately sent it to my friend who lives a few blocks from me. Both he and his wife thought it was a cool and valuable (that’s the key part) website even though they are not buying or selling.

I also sent it to my sister and brother-in-law, both of who had seen it — but my brother-in-law is a sustainability architect, so it’s not surprising he’s already aware of the website.

My gut — most people in Seattle likely have no idea this website exists.

One building I found on the website a few blocks from my house in Queen Anne — I originally heard about from a piece of paper posted on the power pole at the bus stop.

The immediate question I ask myself is why are brokerages/franchises not delivering this service to home owners? Agents, too — though I realize a vendor would have to take on the tech component for individual agents. If I was a mid-sized or large broker, I would certainly investigate building permit data availability in my city — and invest in the technology to put a simple interface on top if the city makes it easily accessible.

Let people draw a circle around the area they care about on the map, and send them email updates of any new building projects in the area. I would sign up for that.